Poisoned Affair
by foolife
Summary: Something's bubbling up in Poison Jam Headquarters...Chapter 4 up! ^_^ Please R+R.
1. Gunshot

Jet Set Radio is a TM and copyrighted by Sega Enterprises. I do not have any ownership over JSR (apart from owning an official PAL/E copy of the game on Dreamcast), and so any characters, settings etc etc are all used courtesy of Sega.

Sega, if you read this and don't like it – don't sue me! Just ask me to take it down.  


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Poisoned Affair – A Jet Set Radio fanfiction by Rob Bowker, aka foolife

Chapter 1 - Gunshot

I'm going out skating, I'll be back later.

No one answered, but then again, probably no one heard. Piranha's voice didn't have the same zing as usual. Her skates slung over her shoulder, she stepped outside her house. The sun beat down hard on her in the late afternoon as she gently walked along the front of the quiet estate she lived on. There wasn't a sound to be heard.

But Piranha's thoughts had embedded themselves in her consciousness, and she couldn't stop hearing them. It was the same thing over and over. She moaned to herself, wishing that they would vanish, or that something would come along and displace them.

She didn't stop walking until reached the GGs garage, only stopping once to make sure she'd switched the radio clipped to her belt off. She hadn't wanted to be disturbed with happy music right then.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Split! Now!

An instant after Beat's voice echoed through the air, the soft yet intense scuffle of five sets of blades speeding over well paved tarmac could be heard, swiftly followed by two police cars rumbling along, with sharp sirens blazing and lighting up the surroundings. There was no mistaking what was going on. Above all boomed Onishima's voice.

Chase those damn punks! I want their heads on a platter!

Beat, Combo, Cube, Mew and Piranha all pushed themselves to their own limits. Of course, this wasn't the first time they'd had to quickly think up an escape from Onishima; on the contrary, they were becoming masters of navigation. Naturally, the entire group were very competent skaters. With Beat at the head, they certainly weren't going to lose to the cops on home territory. Not in Shibuya.

The group slid into a single file line as they took a sharp turn off the main road, and blasted through a narrow alleyway, Cube taking the lead and Piranha bringing up the rear. It was apparent why Piranha was at the back of the line; she was skating a lot slower than her comrades. Her short dread locks blew lightly in the wind, and tinted red goggles rested on her forehead. She was wearing her typical GG gear – some of the most fashionable. Her unbuttoned tank top emblazoned with red stars, with long baggy pants trailing down her legs, just covering the top of her skates. She was the ultimate vision of a GG in looks, yet her mind wasn't with her today. She was deep in thought, focused on some strange issue when Combo bellowed.

Piranha, watch it!

All they could hear was the loud, ear shattering noise that was amplified by the closed in nature of the alley. Piranha realised now how small the alley was. She felt as if the walls would crush her in an instant, with unforgiving venom. As movement transcended into slow motion, Combo glanced over his shoulder. He could see how lost in her thoughts she was, and how slow she was moving. It was the skating equivalent of dawdling to him. He realised he had little choice, and threw himself to the ground. His plan worked; a mere second later, Piranha tumbled effortlessly over him onto the floor. Onishima's deadly slug flew over them and hit a nearby drain pipe, ricocheting off down the alley for a few feet before sliding to a halt on the rough floor, the empty, metallic shell shining in the setting sun. Piranha began to get up, but Combo briefly restrained her, whispering gently.

Hey, whatever it is, we'll work it outbut we shouldn't really dwell on it right now.

As ever, his words of wisdom worked wonders. Piranha sadly smiled; Combo knew something was up, but she still picked herself up and began to dash down the rest of the alley at her full potential. Combo followed suit, and soon all five blazed out into the open bus terminal. Beat jumped as high as he could, landing on the rail of one of the bridges whilst the others tore through the terminal itself, narrowly avoiding citizens and the slow moving buses, simply trying to get out onto the main road without running anyone over.

Poison Jam watched from a far vantage point as their nemesis' skated out, followed by the cops. Behind his mask, one of them grinned maniacally. He spoke gruffly.

Hit them.

The command was to be obeyed, and all three of the slasher gang present launched themselves away simultaneously.

At the top of the bridge, Beat had the full view of the surrounding area. Every race, people from all backgrounds busily crowding desperately for places on the tired coaches, wanting to get as far away from Tokyo as possible. Amongst the hundreds, Beat could clearly see a number of police officers dressed up in full riot gear. He chuckled to himself as he reached the end of the rail and began to slide down back towards the ground.

I never knew we were that much of a menace, he quietly mentioned to himself. As he hopped off the rail at the end and back onto the road below, he kept his gaze on the riot squad, plotting his route to evade their view and escape the vicinity entirely. He could always rely on his cool and relaxed composure; he wasn't the GG's leader for nothing. However, he couldn't help but feel something was wrong. He couldn't see Combo or Piranha. He slid to a stop, using a loading bus as cover, and pushed himself along to the end, looking around the corner.

The police presence he saw was a growing one. Quite a few cars and a SWAT van had already arrived, and he could only guess at what else Onishima had ordered to the scene.

He's probably told them we have nuclear spray paint' thought Beat to himself. He was just about to make a dash for the nearest exit out of the area when the worst thing could have happened.

JET SET RADIOOOOOOOOOO! We're slammin', jammin', laying the tracks out for all those rudies out there! I hear Captain Onishima's called a SWAT team; maybe he's got some flies to kill!

Beat fell back and fumbled with his radio transmitter, which had loudly blared out DJ Professor K's introduction for the evening's pirate radio antics. By the time he'd got the volume down, the police were already coming at Beat in force, and he could only maintain about a second's distance as they chased him. He wiped his brow; he was sweating hard. Within just 10 minutes, a regular artistic night had turned into a total nightmare for the GGs.

Cube, Combo, Mew and Piranha all grouped collectively next to a gate leading off the road, down into a half piped rail track near the sewers. They'd used this route a million times to escape, almost as if they were criminals with a well-worked getaway routine. There was a train every 5 minutes even – simply split, lead the cops on a wild goose chase through the bus terminal, then hop over the fence and down onto the train. Ride the open part of the tube until the next tunnel, and then jump off the back and into the workers entrance of the sewers. Hit and run, smash and grab, illusion and evasion, but now things weren't looking so good. Beat was in serious trouble.

He grabbed the outer rail leading back up to bridge and flipped up onto it, gaining some speed, but not enough. Being on the outer rail, his turn was slow and just as suddenly as he'd lost them, he had the police back on his tail, except now; they were right next to him. If one reached out and tripped his leg, he'd fall all the way to a world of concrete hurt. As the rest of the GGs watched on in shock, Cube felt the ground beneath her rumble. She glanced at the gate – it was rattling. The train's arrival was imminent.

20 seconds! she yelled, and pushed one skate forward in front of her, rolling her back towards the lower part of the fence, and laying her hand firmly onto it. She had full confidence that Beat would make it in time. The rest of the GGs present did the same, all except for Piranha. Her thoughts were bugging her again. Something was missing, something wasn't quite right.

Combo broke her thoughts.

Piranha! What are you doing? Fall back!

She shook her head sharply in an attempt to snap herself out of her daze. Combo interpreted it differently, and skated back up to her. Cube sighed, and Mew squeaked.

What are you guys doing?!?!

Her cry was left ignored. Combo's voice picked up some bass.

Kid, are you alright?

She was about to reply in the negative when they heard a crash. Looking up quickly, they saw Beat coming down the other end of the bridge, landing on the concrete and swiftly skating over. He's seemingly evaded the police, but instead, a lone member of Poison Jam, someone isolated from the rest of his group, had been grinding in the other direction. He hadn't been able to turn in time, and mowed through the police, sending them sprawling off the bridge as if they were pins and clearing Beat's way in the process. He now dangled dangerously over from the bridge by his foot, and desperately tried to pull himself back up. He'd been halfway to succeeding when Piranha spotted Onishima, slowly making his way through the crowd of officers. He gestured for them to stand down, and yelled something. From here, it was inaudible, but as soon as he closed his mouth, he aimed the gun straight up.

yelled Piranha, Shima's going to kill him!

Unlike the rest of the GG's, Piranha didn't hesitate. She broke away from the pavement without a care for the sudden agonising pleas against the daring move from her friends, or the vehicles being forced to break hard and swerve to avoid turning her into a messy patch. Everything ran in slow motion for the unfortunate Poison Jammer, who was strung up badly, and at the complete mercy of Onishima's deadly 6 gauge. 

The train came out of nowhere. Cube and Mew didn't stick around; they hoisted their weight over the low fence and landed perfectly on the first carriage of the speeding train. Combo pulled Beat back without a word, and the two jumped hastily down to the last carriage. They landed without the same grace, and fell into a heap on the very edge. Beat sprung himself up and squinted back to the scene. It had become just a mere blur though, and he couldn't see a thing. Then he heard the gun shot echo distantly through the night.

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Whee! Added a few chunks and sorted the formatting now, to replace that icky job on the last version; please review! ^_^ - Chapter 2 is coming tomorrow! - Rob (7th April 2002).


	2. Trust

1 Jet Set Radio is a TM and copyrighted by Sega Enterprises. I do not have any ownership over JSR (apart from owning an official PAL/E copy of the game on Dreamcast), and so any characters, settings etc etc are all used courtesy of Sega.  
  
2  
  
3 Sega, if you read this and don't like it – don't sue me! Just ask me to take it down.  
  
4 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
5  
  
6 Poisoned Affair – A Jet Set Radio fanfiction by Rob Bowker, aka foolife  
  
7  
  
7.1 Chapter 2 - Trust  
  
The sound of cars from the main road above was all that the lost member of Poison Jam could hear as he worked hard to stem the flow of blood from Piranha's back. It was a miracle the two hadn't been caught. He recalled the events that had transpired, still vividly embedded within his mind.  
  
Piranha dived straight into the big Poison Jammer, sending both of them, arms locked together through the air. Her timing must have been a result of a deal with the devil, as they'd landed on top of a large bus, headed right out of Shibuya. It wasn't all luck though – fate reared its often-ugly head too. Onishima's bullet had ripped across her flesh as she spun in midair, leaving her in sheer pain. The bloodcurdling scream that pierced the air reflected that. She hit her head hard as they came down on the vehicle, and the blow knocked her clean out. They'd had little choice but to travel along on the top of the coach, following its endless route. Once they were far enough outside of Shibuya and away from police presence, the Poison Jammer took it upon himself to look after Piranha, and to get the two to safety. It hadn't been easy; she was unconscious and had a fairly deep flesh wound from the bullet. Admittedly, it had only clipped her, but even so, it was going to require treatment. However, he'd picked the perfect time to jump from the bus, landing almost perfectly with Piranha wrapped in his arms. The long, main road they had been on was on the outskirts on Tokyo-to. He hadn't wished them to travel quite this far, however, it was perfectly quiet at the same time. With all the chaos, confusion, and dare he think it, bait that had been left behind at the bus terminal, he doubted anyone would follow them as far as they had travelled. He spent much of the journey looking at the unconscious Piranha, and couldn't help but find her deeply attractive. However, something more than physical attraction was a requirement for love. He knew that from his own experience.  
  
Now she was lying flat on her face, as he bent forward on his knees, staring at her back. Her dark skin mixed in with a deep, pure shade of red. She'd been bleeding – not badly, but enough to show that this wasn't just any minor injury. He swung his head around the small alcove again. It was almost as if someone had set up home here – there was a rickety wooden desk, a toolbox, and an extremely wet bed. Homely.  
  
Although he'd firmly left his mask on, his slasher gloves had been discarded, strewn across the floor. His hands were stained with blood as he untidily strapped ripped bits of his own dark blue outfit. It certainly wasn't the cleanest bandage in the world, and the Poison Jammer felt wary and uncomfortable strapping it on. After a moment's hesitation, he muttered indistinctly and placed the makeshift dressing on regardless. He figured she could sort it out herself whenever she woke up. He grabbed his gloves and slid them back onto his hands, fastening up the buckles before getting to his feet and rolling himself out of the alcove. He took one look back at Piranha, and studied her closely. His mind ran with thoughts; he could do his typical thing of repairing the damage and running off without any extra effort, or he could stay and, for once, be a man. It was odd – he usually followed his own systematic pattern of the former, but he was almost powerless against his will. He shook his head, gritted his teeth and skated back in, turning the mattress over and threw himself on it, grunting the whole time. He may not have been expressing it, but secretly, he was glad to be staying.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Gum was the first to break the long, unwieldy silence. She nervously stood up, her lips trembling, her short blonde hair eerily still.  
  
"I think…we should…"  
  
Her voice trailed off without a trace of impact. She slowly slumped back down, and turned her head to the side. Tab drew a deep breath and finished her sentence for her.  
  
"Find the body?"  
  
Beat sprung up and boomed loudly, "She's not dead!"  
  
There was pure and intense rage in his eyes as he burnt a hole right through Tab. They were the best of friends, but right now, there was nothing but conflict. The rest of the GGs became even more edgy. Nothing had ever come between them like this. Suddenly all those trivial things they'd been arguing about just hours earlier were thrown way back into the perspective.  
  
"This is crazy, you guys!" Yo-Yo nervously shouted, his lip trembling. "We gotta stick together!"  
  
Tab caved first. He cast his eyes away from Beat, and muttered bitterly under his breath. Beat stepped back. The cloud of tension lifted, if only for a moment, before everyone realised the seriousness of the situation again.  
  
"I'm not going to believe it until I see the body for myself," whispered Cube in a light voice. The only audible sound came from the shuffling of heads, nodding in the affirmative.  
  
Combo peered around the garage door out into the night sky. He shook his head.  
  
"It's dark now. We should begin the search tomorrow." He said gruffly. Naturally, he got some resistance.  
  
"What? Piranha could be out there right now, or in a police cell, and you want us to just stay here?" squeaked Mew in her typical high-pitched tone. A legion of voices agreed behind hers. Combo snapped back.  
  
"You care about her now, sure, but what about earlier? She hasn't been herself all day, something's serious wrong, but all you could worry about was where your skates were, or where you'd mislaid your paint!"  
  
Mew sunk back; Combo was right, and she'd only just realised the way Piranha had been acting all day.  
  
"I don't know what's wrong with her," he began to conclude. "However, what I do know is that she did what she did for a reason. She's a strong girl, she'll be ok. I'm staying here tonight. If she hasn't turned up by the morning, we'll start searching."  
  
Combo walked between the rest of the downhearted GGs, and headed up the ladder into the attic. Beat swiftly left; he was upset, and this environment was ripping him up from inside. Mew and Cube followed. The rest of the GGs stayed, although they all kept quiet, and rested against whatever soft item they could find. They soon all fell asleep, but their dreams were far from happy.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
The Poison Jammer stretched out and yawned, pushing his mask up away from his face to rub his eyes. The common interpretation of a Jammer is that they're mutated under the cover, yet he was far from being deformed. He possessed a spotless air about him; looks any guy would die for. He rolled his sleeve up and checked his battered watch. He wasn't sure, but he reckoned it must have been a good few hours since they rolled in. He'd had enough of waiting, but it wasn't like he had any choice. Almost by fate at that moment, Piranha let out a large groan and began to stir.  
  
'At last,' thought the Poison Jammer, and he arrogantly flipped himself off the bed and rolled in front of Piranha, who was weakly trying to get herself up. She looked ahead and saw the pair of dull blue skates greeting her eyes, and nearly had a heart attack. Intimidated, she looked straight up to see the Poison Jammer, his mask still firmly wedged onto the top of his head. He almost instantly shot his hand forward to help her up. She batted it away and lifted herself painfully to a sitting position. The stinging sensation came from her wound, and she lifted her hand behind her back to feel at it.  
  
"It's only a flesh wound, you'll be ok. A split second later or earlier and I think we'd be looking at a different story." Said the Poison Jammer insensitively. Piranha took instant offence.  
  
"A split second later or earlier??? I save your life and that's all you have to say?" she shouted, arching forward in her angry state. She winced as she did, taking a hard breath before leaning back again, easing the pressure on the wound.  
  
"Name's Rox," he mumbled.  
  
Rox once again made an attempt to help Piranha up. After a moment's hesitation, Piranha muttered under her breath but this time reluctantly accepted his offer. She placed her hand in his and held on tightly as he gently pulled her to her feet. The pain in her back stung, and she needed considerable help in keeping her balance for a few minutes, but eventually she could keep her own equilibrium. Rox never once complained…either he was a quiet guy, or he felt some genuine guilt. Either way, Piranha began to regret her earlier thoughts about the Poison Jam.  
  
She quickly shook herself out of it. He was a Poison Jammer – that in itself was a bad omen. As soon as the pain receded she pushed herself away from him, and looked him up and down.  
  
"I'm Piranha. Listen…thanks, but I'll be ok. We're enemies, not friends."  
  
He was stunned at her abruptness as she shoved past him, heading towards the alcove's exit. As she reached it, a flashlight illuminated the inside, momentarily blinding both her and Rox.  
  
"Ahhhh!" she yelped and swung back. The loud sound of rotors whirring around echoed throughout the alcove. Rox grabbed her arm and pulled her clear back from the entrance. Both of them held each other, squinting their eyes to protect them from the wind bouncing in their faces, and watched in fear as the chopper began to set itself down.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Another chapter finished, another ending a bit rushed. Oh well. – Rob, 8th April 2001. 


	3. Confessions

Jet Set Radio is a TM and copyrighted by Sega Enterprises. I do not have any ownership over JSR (apart from owning an official PAL/E copy of the game on Dreamcast), and so any characters, settings etc etc are all used courtesy of Sega.  
  
  
  
  
  
Sega, if you read this and don't like it - don't sue me! Just ask me to take it down.  
  
Ok, things get a little more violent, confusing and longer now ^_^ Just get in and buckle up; the ride's only just beginning!  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
  
  
Poisoned Affair - A Jet Set Radio fanfiction by Rob Bowker, aka foolife  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 3 - Confessions  
  
A soft wind rattled the corrugated iron of the GG's garage in the wasteland of the night. Little stirred from outside, apart from the odd piece of garbage floating through the air. Yo-Yo and Garam sat on the ground quietly next to the garage door, the only illumination coming from the light of the street lamps shining through the cracks of the makeshift entrance as Garam shuffled and drew the cards out silently. It was early in the morning, and both of them had been the receivers of a patchy and disturbed sleep. They were naturally worried. Garam only got to handing Yo-Yo his fourth when he stalled, relaxing his arm and taking a deeper breath.  
  
"You don't feel like playin' either, hey?" Yo-Yo instinctively remarked. Garam lifted his face up, eyes resting elsewhere on the room before shaking his head.  
  
"It doesn't feel right. One of our family is out on our own, somewhere in the wild and we have no idea. am I being stupid? I feel overprotective."  
  
Yo-Yo let his mind rest. "Not just 'chu, man," he scooped up the cards laid in front of him and piled them together loosely handing them back to Garam. "She'll be ok though."  
  
"You sound a little too sure."  
  
Yo-Yo grinned, his overconfident nature brimming with every word. "She's a GG! Dun worry."  
  
Garam stared at Yo-Yo in disbelief. His reply was almost instantaneous. "That's what I am worried about, you idiot!" He quickly regretted his words and continued, a slightly hurt looking Yo-Yo listening on.  
  
"I'm sorry pal," he sighed slowly. "She's a GG, sure, but you and I both know that doesn't necessarily mean a good thing."  
  
The matter-of-fact attitude in his voice set Yo-Yo at an uneasy rest. Just as it had stopped to listen to them talk, the wind rattled the corrugated iron again, moving away from the scene.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Once the light had dimmed, and Piranha saw the logo emblazoned on the helicopter, her heart sank. Standing out from the dull metal on the side was a brightly coloured Rhinoceros - the mark of the Golden Rhinos. She'd secretly hoped, that along with the crushing of Goji Rokkaku, the Rhinos would have disappeared silently into the night too. Alas, she was bitterly mistaken. As the helicopter lay dormant, 3 pairs of legs suddenly dropped from the other side. Rox could only just make out the boots, but he already knew what had come for him. His pulse raced as he pulled Piranha even closer to whisper in her ear.  
  
"As soon as I cause enough of a distraction, get out of here. This is none of your concern," he hissed.  
  
Piranha contemplated hissing back, just for the sheer hell of it, but took hold of her hot-headedness and decided against it. Now wasn't the time; she could always graffiti the hell out of his house when she hooked back up with the GGs. She intensely stared at the mysterious boots of the trio until they came out into the open. Her jaw dropped.  
  
Standing before her was none other than Goji Rokkaku, flanked by two of his finest guards.  
  
"You're.you're supposed to be DEAD!" she screamed. He sneered with delight at finding one of his murderers.  
  
"I am supposed to be dead, but I'm not," he said, in that unmistakably evil tone. "To think I just came here for you, Rox. Now I get to kill two birds with one stone."  
  
The intensity on Rox's face grew.  
  
"You leave her out of this. It's me you want."  
  
Goji lifted his free hand to his chin, rubbing it well and stepping deeper into the alcove. He looked around carefully, a smile on his face, although not one of evil intentions; one of mere delight at his find. Piranha rolled back carefully as he moved closer, but Rox didn't. He stood perfectly still and perfectly balanced whilst Goji moved yet closer still, circling him and watching him like a hawk before moving over to the half empty toolbox. Either he was even more arrogant than he made himself out to be, or Goji didn't intimidate him.  
  
In all honesty, it was neither.  
  
For Piranha, all sense of time and sound had vanished for her. Every fibre of her being solely concentrated on the exact movements and twitches of Goji. She still was in disbelief that he was still alive after falling off the tower scant months ago, let alone the fact he was here - seemingly unharmed - and moving about as if nothing had ever happened.  
  
Goji whipped a wrench out of the toolbox, slowly walked back to face Rox, and growled.  
  
"You know what I can do to you. You know what I can do to her. Give yourself up and I might let the both of you live," The smile changed to that bitter evil one Piranha knew so well. "That is, after I'm done with you."  
  
Rox shook his head, gritting his teeth.  
  
"You son of a bitch."  
  
Goji's arm came up and down over Rox's skull in a flash. The Poison Jammer yelped and clutched his head in agony as he fell to the floor. Sensing that Piranha would react, he merely sidestepped. A gust of air hit his face and all he heard was the colliding of bodies as the speeding GG crashed into Goji's own personal guard. She was quickly seized, although that didn't stop her struggling and using her mouth.  
  
"LEAVE HIM ALONE! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" she screamed again, trying to push away from the two burly men that restrained her. Goji shot a look at her that could have killed, then returned to his pray. Rox was still clutching his head with one hand, breathing deeply and trying to use Goji's leg to pull himself back up. He didn't waste any further time in bringing the wrench down upon Rox's head again, and again, and again. Rox yelled in agony; Piranha screamed and struggled; Goji grinned maniacally as the circle continued. By the time he decided to drop the wrench, sending an inaudible clattering across the alcove, Rox barely moved. He wore a crimson mask, with a bright red pool steadily increasing. Piranha's eyes flooded, as she continued to scream hoarsely, exhausted from the sheer rush of adrenaline.  
  
For what seemed an age, Goji stared at Rox. Even in his foetal position, he still reached his hand out, trying to find something to lift himself up with.  
  
"Persistent little asshole, aren't you?" Goji observed, impressed by Rox's abilities. "It is no matter. I need you alive anyway."  
  
He turned back to his guards.  
  
"I shall deal with her now. Take this boy back to the helicopter."  
  
The guards nodded simultaneously, and instantly let go of Piranha. With every emotion bubbling to the surface, she launched herself straight forward towards Goji, a fierce war cry echoing. Yet Goji just pointed his finger, and without warning, Piranha came to a standstill, her entire body paralysed. Goji grinned again.  
  
"My dear girl, what you and your gang did to me.was the best thing you could have ever done. I have never felt so empowered, so strong, so.free.all I needed was the boy, but I cannot let you go either. Get in the helicopter."  
  
He thrust his finger forward, sending Piranha through the air at a high velocity. Hitting the side of the helicopter, she slumped to the floor, once more unconscious.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Piranha opened her eyes.  
  
Black.  
  
She rubbed them, blinked twice then tried to focus again.  
  
Black.  
  
Out of all the thoughts in her mind, only one made itself heard above the rest  
  
'Where the hell am I?'  
  
Her back still hurt as she pulled herself up onto her feet but that was no longer the issue on her mind. Feeling her body with her hands, she could tell she wasn't wearing her normal garb. Rubbing her feet along the floor, she could tell she didn't have her inlines on either. Whatever kind of outfit she'd been changed into, it wasn't her fashion.  
  
"They knock me out, they steal my clothes."  
  
Her mutterings were nothing more than a cover-up. All she wanted to do was to hear her own voice to assure herself that at least she still had herself. Her head still ached from where it had been knocked against the helicopter and she wasn't feeling too good from it, either. Feeling around for the nearest wall, she slumped against it onto the floor, resting herself. Hopefully, it would be day soon, or someone would come, or even someone would turn on a light switch; if only to assure her that she hadn't gone blind.  
  
It was cold too. A nippy air breezed about the room. Feeling the chill, Piranha wrapped her arms around herself and tapped her feet to keep herself warm. Only a few minutes passed before Piranha began singing lightly, just to keep her nerves in check.  
  
"Oh, I can see them run 'bout the town, I can hear them all say."  
  
"d-d-d-doo w-w-whop, l-listen to the m-m-music."  
  
Piranha opened her eyes wide.  
  
"Rox? Is that you?"  
  
A faint reply came back, through chattering teeth.  
  
"y-y-yeah."  
  
She scrambled over to where the voice led her, feeling around until she laid her hands on his stocky body. It was no wonder he was cold; whatever he was wearing had been ripped and torn, leaving a great deal of his body exposed. Unsurprisingly, he felt like frozen ice. Instinctively she put her fears and confusion over the Poison Jam to one side and covered him as best she could.  
  
"w-w-what."  
  
She pressed a finger to his lips. "Just shut up, don't say a word. Save your strength." He wasn't in the mood to argue back, but he could feel her shaking just as much as he was.  
  
They remained that way until dawn, locked in each other's arms without even knowing it. As the first cracks of light began to shine through the few, tiny windows - which were more like air holes than windows - Piranha and Rox saw more clearly around their cell. It was totally bare, with drab, grey walls. The door was large, ominous, and shut tight, shadowing over the pair.  
  
Rox broke the silence. He was still cold and hurt, but had at least controlled his chattering teeth,  
  
"I could get used to this," he sarcastically groaned. Piranha smiled at the irony. "I live in this anyway,"  
  
Rox pondered.  
  
"I don't understand," he eventually mused. She sighed.  
  
"S'pose I gotta tell you now, huh?" she expressed, a tone of annoyance in her voice. He nodded in a puppy dog kind of way. She grinned.  
  
"Ok, you win." she closed her eyes as she began the story she'd not even told her closest friends.  
  
"The neighbourhood where I live, some developer's bought it up from the government. It's a hole, so they've decided to evict everyone.demolish it all, a big 'rehousing' project," the disgust in her voice was so bitter you could have choked on it. "So, we're getting relocated, but not in Tokyo. Everything I've ever known, I'll have to leave behind."  
  
Rox went quiet. He didn't know what to say. After a minute of racing thought, all he could go for was the cliché.  
  
"I'm sorry," he began. "Are you ok?"  
  
Piranha shrugged. "It's easier to tell someone who doesn't know you. They don't care, or feel sorry for you. They're just another face in the crowd," she said with a monotonous ring in her voice.  
  
Rox nodded his head slightly. He understood what she meant. He'd been there. He was there right now.  
  
She took a study look at the badly dressed bandage covering his head. An unmistakable tinge of red still shone through, and leaked over the top. It was a miracle Goji hadn't killed him.  
  
"Hey, Piranha." he coughed, nervously as she looked at him receptively. "Maybe when this is all done and we're out of all this, you'd want to go out maybe?"  
  
She couldn't help but let out a smile. Whatever she thought about Poison Jam didn't apply here. She touched his hand tenderly.  
  
"I'd love to."  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Beat checked his watch for the umpteenth time. It was 4:30am; shards of light had begun to break through the fading stars of the night sky. From his position at the top of Tokyo's Expo Centre he watched the ground from high above, the still occasionally broken by the odd, drunken yob stumbling home or  
  
He loved Piranha. Now he wished he'd told her how he felt all along, instead of being the 'good friend' she considered him. They got along so well, as gang members and close friends. Only one person to him had ever been closer - Gum.  
  
Gum. She'd know what to do. All he had to do was get her in private.  
  
Picking himself up from the roof, he leapt off, grinding his way down the huge pillar supports to the ground.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Well it's been some time ^_^ Had exams, personal problems, results, parties, university etc etc. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.they'll be more frequent now, promise; btw, is the violence a little OTT? And yeah, I'm aware that Tokyo is never quiet, but I needed some sentimental moment ^^; - Rob, 1st October 2002. 


	4. Jam

Jet Set Radio is a TM and copyrighted by Sega Enterprises. I do not have any ownership over JSR (apart from owning an official PAL/E copy of the game on Dreamcast), and so any characters, settings etc etc are all used courtesy of Sega.  
  
  
  
  
  
Sega, if you read this and don't like it - don't sue me! Just ask me to take it down.  
  
  
  
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Poisoned Affair - A Jet Set Radio fanfiction by Rob Bowker, aka foolife  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 4 - Jam  
  
Somewhere, deep in the sewers of Kogane-cho, the sounds of uniformed chatter could be heard echoing throughout the massive system of pipework and outlets. If one could spend an eternity navigating the foul smelling water, often green with the colourings of waste, they would come across a gigantic storage dome. Formally part of the Rokakku Corporation's water powered facility, it had been long since abandoned. Now, it was nothing but the underground meeting point for the collective Poison Jam.  
  
As the water splashed underneath them, around twelve Poison Jammers stood in lines of four, barking words of Japanese in unison. They all looked identical with their intimidating masks, slasher gloves and drab blue outfit covering over whatever gruesome features lay underneath.  
  
Their leader, however, looked different. Female; a slimmer body, dark and dusty armband absorbing any glimpse of light that might have shone onto it. The others were merely the pawns of the chess set. She who stood there was the darkest spirit of all. Standing on a ledge separately, she looked at her tribe attentively and silently, hands locked together behind her back. Eventually, she held one of her hands out, and the room fell still, short of the lapping of the water against the edges of the dome some 50 feet below them.  
  
"Our plans have not gone well," she began, bluntly. "We are a member down and our attempts to claim Bentan-Cho have ended in utter failure. Master Goji will not be pleased."  
  
The group muttered amongst themselves briefly before the girl carried on.  
  
"Those responsible for the so-called raid - " Her mutterings were so vile. " - remove their masks. Now."  
  
Without questioning why or any apprehension, Rox's teammates on that fateful evening stumbled forward, removing their masks and clutching them in their hands. Their faces were a blanket of similarity. They could have been twins, but something seemed so very different.  
  
"Toss them asides," their leader barked. They did as she requested.  
  
"If the Rokkaku Empire is to rise again, there can be no more failure. You have all heard the direct orders from our master Goji himself; if the meddlesome GGs are not stopped, then Operation Resurrection could be in danger," she said softly. "Therefore, there is no room for error. Rox is already finding this out. You two will suffer similar consequences. Wait here until the Golden Rhinos arrive; you will be taken for re-education."  
  
The two showed no fear, no anger and no remorse. They nodded, simultaneously, resigned to their fate.  
  
"The rest of you," the female continued, her voice regaining its volume. "Bentan-Cho WILL be taken. You are all to attack at exactly 6pm this evening. I will be there to oversee the operation. Dismissed!"  
  
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"Martians come all the way to Earth just to listen to us! Jet Set RADIOOOOOOO! Here's a report come in from down at the pond - there's a little fishy missin'! Piranha of the GGs tried to be a hero by saving a Poison Jammer and now the two of them have disappeared, vanished, gone to the land of make believe! What's worse is that Poison Jam are still recruiting; they don't even give a damn about their lost gang member! Are these guys crazy?! Either these guys are going from slasher fics to chainsaw massacres or something else is bubbling over!"  
  
Professor K's ramblings did no one any good.  
  
Morning had broken over Japan, and in the garage, all the GGs except for Cube, Beat and Gum had assembled. Some were a little more tired than others - over in the corner the pinball machine propped up Slate whilst next to the garage door Garam and Yo-Yo were quite happy propping up each other. Those who had managed to get some shut-eye the night before had been haunted by the bitter dreams of Piranha slipping out of their grasp into the darkness. Getting her back was on everyone's mind.  
  
Tab sat on the sofa lacing up his skates. When Beat was gone, he was the alternate leader, except in this instance he longed for Beat's advice. Other times, it was so much easier; pick a destination, tune into Jet Set Radio, grab some spray cans and go. Everyone knew how to skate, spray and avoid cops - they all took the risks as they came.  
  
He finished the left boot and looked up, making a final head count. Stopping to check whom else hadn't arrived, he began to lace up the right boot, calling out as he did.  
  
"Anyone seen Cube?"  
  
Mew quickly squeaked in reply.  
  
"She said she was tied up at home, and couldn't make it. She'll hook up with us later."  
  
"Right," nodded Tab, finishing the right boot as he did. "And Gum?"  
  
"Right here," came an irate voice from the doorway. Gum was clearly fuming as she rolled in, followed by Beat who rolled to the front. He sighed, and then turned to face his surrogate family.  
  
"Ok, this is what we know. Piranha's still missing -" Gum screwed her face up as she skulked in the corner " - more than likely still with that Poison Jammer. So, I want us to split into two groups. Gum, Mew, Combo, Tab and Slate, you guys go to Shibuya Terminal, canvas the area and find out if anybody knows anything. Garam, Yo-Yo, you two are on a stealth mission into Poison Jam HQ," Beat was cut short with an explosion of protests.  
  
"No way!"  
  
"Are you nuts, Beat?!?!"  
  
"You want them to walk into the gates of Hell itself?"  
  
Beat swallowed lightly and nodded, waiting for the noise to subside before continuing.  
  
"I know this is asking a lot, too much even but it's not like we have a choice. I personally believe you two are the people who can sneak in and out without making yourselves seen. I understand if you don't want to go ahead with this," He looked at them. Garam took a deep breath before muttering.  
  
"Alright, I'm in." Yo-Yo simply nodded, following the crowd somewhat.  
  
"Good," Beat nodded. "I'm staying here to wait for Piranha, and to co- ordinate our mission. Remember, any trouble at all, you come straight back here. Remember, guys, no fancy stuff. This isn't a festival."  
  
He held his hand forward. One by one, the others laid theirs on his.  
  
"Let's do it."  
  
A loud GG cheer erupted throughout the garage as everyone skated out. Beat watched them go, then turned to the sofa, sitting on it and began to unlace his skates. A mere few seconds later, Gum stepped out of the shadows.  
  
"I'm staying here too."  
  
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Those who've played JSRF may notice I've, ahem, 'borrowed' a little element from said game; however, if you know it/can guess what it is, don't spoil it for the others ^_^ it's kinda obvious anyway - Rob, 3rd October 2002. 


End file.
